"We will be launching a new weekly program and a cultural theme day," Adrian Marthaler, the head of culture at Swiss Television SF, who is leaving at the end of 2007, told the SonntagsZeitung. It would be "a small, discursive cultural program without a presenter", said Marthaler. The cultural theme day will take place on a Sunday in the second half of the year. Various programs will be dedicated to one topic.  
More than 160 projects were submitted for the announced follow-up series to "Lüthi & Blanc". The two best have now been selected. According to Marthaler, "Lüthi & Blanc" actors who had publicly opposed the cancellation of the soap can also hope for a new job. The reservoir of Swiss actors leaves no other choice, the head of culture explained further. In addition, the financing for "Elf - Abseits vom Spiel", a planned fictional series in view of the 2008 European Football Championship, has not yet been secured.
 
Marthaler goes on to explain that, contrary to media reports to the contrary, he has "always maintained good contact" with television director Ingrid Deltenre.

Markus Pekeler, the CEO of TBWA Group Switzerland, is stepping down from his post at the agency network with immediate effect after more than five years. A successor has not been announced. Urs Strukov, CFO of TBWA Switzerland, told Werbewoche: "We have a well-functioning management team that can take over." He justified the short-term announcement of Pekeler's departure by saying that TBWA wanted to communicate things when they were current. Strukov left open the time horizon until the CEO position is filled, noting that they will communicate in due course. According to a media release with a blocking period until February 2 at noon, Pekeler had completely realigned the group during his time as CEO and thus made it fit for the future. He is now looking for new challenges. Pekeler is quoted in the communiqué as saying: "My long 10-year journey in this group from Impuls Küsnacht via Saatchi & Saatchi via BDDP to today's TBWA Switzerland was a great, exciting adventure. However, the daily business in an increasingly restrictive international network structure has increasingly restricted my drive and freedom. I desperately need fresh air and it is therefore time for a real 'disruption' in my life. The new path is still open. For now, I'm giving myself plenty of time for new ideas and my own projects." Strukov declined to comment on Pekeler's plans beyond that statement. In the statement, Nick Baum, president of TBWA Western Europe, emphasized the previous CEO's achievements for the company, calling him an inspiring and proactive partner.

The Zurich-based film production company Condor Films has won a bronze medal in the International Film & Video category at the New York Festivals. The award went to a corporate film for Geberit in the "PR: Corporate Image" category. Two other Swiss companies each won an award at the renowned festivals. Geneva-based Freestudios were rewarded for a film for Amasoya in the "Environment & Ecology" category. Twin Productions from Biel took the award for "Electricity without Borders" in the "PR: Energy & Utilities" category.

On February 1, the top echelons of society, with many important names from politics, the media, sports, culture and business, met for a big party on the Event Deck of Zurich's Unique Airport. The celebration was "20 years of the Sonntagszeitung". In addition to a supporting program with Polo Hofer and the rock band Gotthard, who revived the last 20 years musically with fitting nostalgic hits, the several hundred guests also learned interesting background information about the history of the Sonntagszeitung. National Council President Christine Egerszegi-Obrist, publisher Hans-Heinrich Coninx, Editor-in-Chief Andreas Durisch and Tamedia CEO Martin Kall answered questions from TV presenter Patrick Rohr. Denner CEO Philippe Gaydoul took to the lectern for a critical appraisal of the Sunday newspaper, including personal reflections on the work of the journalists required today. Werbewoche is pleased to be able to publish Gaydoul's speech in full here.

The carousel of direct booking discounts continues to turn. The publishing house Jean Frey and the Handelszeitung publishing group, which has been under the joint umbrella of Axel Springer AG since January 2007, are now introducing joint direct booking discounts with retroactive effect from January 1, 2007. The discount applies to the publications Beobachter, Bilanz, TV Star, Handelszeitung, Stocks, PME Magazine and io new management. Jean Frey announced this in a communiqué on Friday. Media and advertising agencies or agency networks that book their advertising orders directly with the publisher will receive compensation amounting to 1.5 percent of the net annual customer turnover as compensation for their expenses, provided this amounts to at least CHF 500,000 per year cumulatively across the two publishing houses' publications mentioned. If the cumulative direct turnover of the previous year is exceeded, the compensation on the additional turnover amounts to 2 percent.
In addition to achieving the minimum turnover, the following conditions apply for receiving direct booking compensation: Transmission of the advertising order without the involvement of an intermediary, a professional booking and scheduling process, electronic transmission of the data in accordance with the standards of Printonline or the publishers' price documentation. Jean Frey and the Handelszeitung publishing group intend to sign corresponding agreements with the advertising and media agencies that generate this level of revenue.

Advertising is more popular than is generally assumed - at least if a German study commissioned by Mediaedge:cia is to be believed. Of the around 1,700 Germans surveyed, more than half like to look at advertising in free advertising papers at least once in a while, and 44 percent do so for newspaper advertising. According to Werben & Verkaufen, 41 percent of respondents like to look at magazine advertising occasionally. 35 percent like to watch TV advertising from time to time. For billboard advertising, the approval rate is 32 percent, for radio commercials 24 percent and for Internet advertising ten percent. According to the study, those forms of advertising that contain specific offer information are particularly popular. Overall, women are much more open to advertising than men. However, there are considerable differences depending on the age of the women: While women over 30 are primarily interested in print advertising, with around 60 percent agreeing, TV commercials, posters and Internet advertising are more popular among younger women. However, the acceptance of advertising is generally lower in this age group.

A Dutchman must pay a fine of 75,000 euros for sending at least nine billion unsolicited e-mails. This was announced by the telecoms supervisory authority in The Hague on Friday, according to SDA. The man had advertised pornography, erection pills, sex products and the like in the spam e-mails and earned at least 40,000 euros. The fine is the highest ever imposed by the Dutch authorities for sending spam e-mails. Sending unsolicited electronic mail has been banned within the EU for around two years. Those sending advertising by e-mail, fax or SMS texts for cell phones must ask the recipients for their consent and are not allowed to conceal their own identity. The Dutch authorities also found it particularly incriminating that the man manipulated hundreds of computers of unsuspecting people to send his e-mails in order to conceal the true sender.

Angelink yourposition more than doubled its turnover in 2006 and once again expanded its customer portfolio with numerous new accounts. This was announced by the full-service provider in search engine marketing on Friday. The new clients include British Airways Austria, Cornèrcard, Hostpoint and PartnerWinner.  
In addition to numerous search engine optimizations, Angelink yourposition managed over 200 keyword campaigns for around 50 clients last year. This resulted in ad impressions for over 21 million search queries and around 1.3 million clicks, as the press release explains.
 
As part of its growth, the agency has further expanded its team. At the beginning of 2007, e-business expert Beat Muttenzer, who had already worked for Angelink yourposition in 2005, joined the team.

Software giant Microsoft is launching a superlative advertising campaign for the launch of its new Vista operating system. The big bang is being served up. In Switzerland, a specially designed new form of cinema advertising is intended to make Vista better known. To this end, McCann Erickson and Universal McCann developed a futuristic laser animation in collaboration with Cinecom. The laser show can be seen in eight Swiss cities since January 31, 2007. It lasts approx. 20 seconds and is shown in a prominent position between the advertising block and the main film. The laser achieves its optimum effect when it is completely dark, according to a Cinecom press release: "The strong and pure colors of the laser are intended to achieve the 'wow' effect for the audience," Olivier Renaud, developer and art director at McCann Erickson, is quoted as saying in the press release. The elaborate show is primarily intended to draw the attention of a young, active audience to the new product from Microsoft.

In its latest issue, the Swiss magazine Anthrazit presents the 200 best websites in Switzerland. The selection was not easy for the editorial team. "The quality of offerings on the Swiss web has improved significantly," explains Editor-in-Chief Matthias Zehnder in a press release. The 200 best websites can be clicked on below. The websites are listed by category. TV presenter Kurt Aeschbacher's Böog leads in the weblogs category, Cash Daily's platform is top in the newspapers category and Cineman.ch is top in the cinema category. The website of tennis ace Roger Federer came in first place for celebrities, followed immediately by daily news presenter Heinrich Müller. In the shopping sector, Books.ch came top of the podium for books and Ex Libris for music. New in the ranking are websites that can be accessed by cell phone. The new issue of Anthrazit will be published on February 6.

Daniel Fasnacht is to become the new Managing Director of Sauerländer Verlage. Fasnacht is a marketing professional with many years of publishing experience, according to a press release issued on Friday. The 45-year-old was most recently Head of Marketing at Basler Zeitung. Sauerländer will also be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2007. Today, the company concentrates its business activities on the design, production and distribution of teaching and learning materials for both the compulsory school sector as well as secondary schools and adult education. Sauerländer Verlage, with the publishing houses Sauerländer, SABE and Arpartel, is an independent subsidiary of the Cornelsen Publishing Group.

Simona Borsari is joining the Swiss-wide PR agency Birchmeier Giger Partner in Zug. She will support the Zug-based agency as a junior consultant. Borsari previously worked in public relations for various cultural institutions. Birchmeier Giger Partner focuses on advising SMEs and large companies on all aspects of corporate communications and realizes internal and external communications projects.